SUB SOIL INVESTIGATION

Chidanand Jadar
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
AIT, Bengaluru
 Unit 1
SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION
• Introduction
• Importance of exploration program,
• Methods of exploration: Boring, Seismic refraction method of geophysical exploration,
• Types of samples - undisturbed, disturbed and representative samples,
• Samplers, sample disturbance, area ratio, Recovery ratio, clearance,
• Stabilisation of boreholes - Typical bore log. Number and depth of borings for various
civil engineering structures, soil exploration report.
• DRAINAGE AND DEWATERING
• Determination of ground water level by Hvorselev’s method,
• Control of ground water during excavation: Dewatering - Ditches and sumps,
• Well point system, Vacuum method, Electro- Osmosis method.

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 IMPORTANCE OF EXPLORATION PROGRAM
Importance of exploration program
• Safe
and economical design of substructure elements requires knowledge of subsoil
conditions.
exploration – is the process of field and laboratory studies conducted on soil to
• Soil
obtain subsoil characteristics. (along with groundwater table position)
• Site investigations provide
• Stratigraphy and physical properties of soil.
• Ground water table and its fluctuations
• Geological studies and surveys, Topographical survey.

• Complex natural deposits, no universal method of soil exploration.

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Cntnd…
Importance of exploration program
• Todetermine the type of foundation required for the proposed project at the site, i.e.
shallow foundation or deep foundation.
• To make recommendations regarding the safe bearing capacity or pile load capacity.
• Ultimately, it is the subsoil that provides the ultimate support for the structures.

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 METHODS OF EXPLORATION
• Choice depends on nature of sub soils, its extent, purpose of exploration.
• Major classification: Preliminary and Detailed.
• Preliminary: Geological + Reconnaissance study
• From site visit: Local topography, excavations, cutting, drainage patterns,
streams, flood marks etc.
• Geophysical methods and tests with cone penetrometers and sounding rods
are used.
• Detailed: Followed after preliminary study.
• To determine nature, sequence and thickness of subsoil layers, their
variations
• Physical properties and position of ground water table
• Boring and Detailed sampling are used
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Cntnd…
• Detailed investigation should not be considered when
• Subsoil layers are very randomly distributed
• Structure transmits light loads
• Relatively less important structure
• Good record of subsoil details exists

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 BORING
• Making and advancing of boreholes is called Boring.
• Suitability depends :
• Nature of soils
• Position of ground water table
• Ease and accuracy with which changes in soil and ground water conditions can be
determined.
Depending upon soil type and purpose of boring,
• Auger Boring
• Wash Boring
• Rotary Boring
• Percussion Boring
• Core Boring
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 Auger BORING
Vertically pressing down action + rotate the auger
• Hand operated – used up to 6m depth (soft soils)
• Bore hole must stand unsupported
• Casing Pipe may be used to avoid cave in
• Power driven augers for greater depths

Suitability of Auger boring –

1. Partially saturated sands, silts & medium to stiff cohesive soils.
2. Auger borings are kept dry
3. Samples are severely disturbed, useful only for identification
purpose.
4. Shallow foundations, highways & borrow pits (exploration
depth is small)
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 Shell and Auger (Sand bailer) method:
widely used in India
• Heavy duty pipe with cutting edge.
• Length and weights as per requirements
• Sinker bars add weight to bailer, shell is raised
and left to fall in hole
• Soil that is cut enters tube and emptied when full.
Sand bailer
• Boringis started by augering and shell is used
when augering is difficult.

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 Wash BORING
• Drivea casing pipe through heavy drop,
supported by a tripod & pulley.
• Wateris forced under pressure (through
hollow) drill rod, which may be rotated.
• Lower end of drill rod has sharp cutting
edge
• Cut soil gets mixed with water & floats up
(through annular space b/w casing & drill
rod)

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 Wash BORING
• Slurry flowing indicates the soil type
• Change in soil strata can be identified/surmised from the rate of progress &
slurry flowing out
• Water + Soil, hence samples are not useful for information on properties of
soil.
• Obtain sample from borehole using appropriate tool
• Can be used for almost all type of soil, even below GWT.

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 Percussion BORING
• Boring by repeatedly applying blows with
chisel inside casing pipe
• Borehole is dry, little water to form slurry
• Slurry is bailed out by pump
• Only method suitable in boulder & gravelly
strata

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 Rock Coring
• It is always desirable that coring be done for at least 3 m.
• If the bedrock is weathered or irregular, the coring may need to be extended
to a greater depth.
• For coring a core barrel is attached to the drilling rod. A coring bit is attached
to the bottom of the core barrel.
• The cutting element in the bit may be diamond, tungsten, or carbide.
• The coring is advanced by rotary drilling.
• Water is circulated through the drilling rod during coring, and the cuttings are
washed out.

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 TYPES OF SAMPLES

Undisturbed
TYPES OF SAMPLES
Disturbed

Representative

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 TYPES OF SAMPLES
Disturbed Sample
• Natural structure of soil gets disturbed
• Represent the composition and mineral content
• Can used to determined index properties (grain size, specific gravity,..)

Undisturbed Sample
• Natural structure of soil & water content is retained.
• It may not be possible to get truly undisturbed sample
• Obtaining sample, a change in stresses occur and cause small disturbance.

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 SAMPLERS, AREA RATIO, RECOVERY RATIO,
CLEARANCE
• Commonly used samplers are
• Open drive samplers
• Piston samplers
• Rotary samplers
Inside clearance (ci)
Outside clearance, (co)
Area Ratio (Ao)
D3 - D1
D1 = inside diameter of cutting edge Ci = ´100
D1
D2 = outside diameter of cutting edge D - D4
C0 = 2 ´100
D4
D3 = inside diameter of sampling tube
D22 - D12
D4 = outside diameter of sampling tube A0 = ´100
D12

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 SAMPLERS, AREA RATIO, RECOVERY RATIO,
CLEARANCE
• Inside diameter is meant to reduce friction b/w soil sample and sampler, by
allowing for elastic expansion.
• If inside clearance is too large then there will be too much of lateral expansion.
• Outside clearance will reduce friction while sampler is being driven and when it is
being withdrawn.
Recovery ratio
• Lr<1: soil is compressed
• Lr = 1, indicates a good recovery
• Lr>1: means that soil has swelled

recovered _ length _ of _ the _ sample

Lr =
penetration _ length _ of _ the _ sampler
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Sample disturbance
• To reduce sample disturbance
• Ci should be from 1 to 3 % by IS: 1892-1979
• Co should be b/w 0-2%
• Ar should be kept as low as possible

• Types of samples required in the Laboratory

• Undisturbed: Co-eff of permeability, shear strength & consolidation
parameters, Density, natural w/c
• Representative: specific gravity, grain size distribution, Atterberg limits

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 OPEN DRIVE SAMPLER
• Consists of seamless open end steel tube with cutting edge.
• Sampler head is provided with vents to allow water & air to escape
• Ball check valve to retain the sample

• Thick walled samplers are used for disturbed but representative samples
• Samplers may be in form of tube or split tube with or without liner
• Repeated blows of falling weight are applied to obtain sample

• Thin wall samplers are used for obtaining undisturbed samples

• Area ratio is below 15%
• Sampler tube may be of brass, aluminum or other suitable hard material, durable &
corrosion resistant
• Sampler
11/18/2019 is driven into soil in a continuous
Jadar, Crapid
M motion without impact or twisting
19
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 PISTON SAMPLER
• Consists of sampler cylinder and piston system
• Piston is placed inside the sampler
• At required depth, piston is fixed and the
sampler cylinder is forced into the soil, cutting
the sample
• The sampler on passing the piston, negative
pressure develops above the sample, which
holds the sample.
• Withdraw both the sampler and piston, with
sample inside the cylinder
• Useful in saturated sands and other soft & wet
soils, which cannot be sampled by open drive
samplers
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 SEISMIC REFRACTION METHOD
 When a sound wave crosses an interface between layers of two different
velocities, the wave is refracted.
 That is, the angle of the wave leaving the interface will be altered from the
incident angle, depending on the relative velocities.

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 SEISMIC REFRACTION METHOD
 Seismic waves have different velocities in different types of soil/rock.
 Waves get reflected when they cross boundary b/w different types of soils.
 Useful for general soil types & identification of depth of strata.
 How it works ?
 Generate impact by blows or small explosion
 Radiating shock waves are recorded by geophone (time of travel), at regular
intervals
 Primary waves: travel directly from shock source to geophone (along ground
surface)
 Other waves: travel downward, at different angles to horizontal
 Refraction of waves, when they pass stratum of different seismic velocity
 Denser layer, faster the waves travel
 Plot11/18/2019
of arrival time vs distance Jadar, C M 23
 Plot of arrival time vs distance

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Contnd…
 If source-geophone distance < cross over distance (d) then,
 Direct waves reaches geophone earlier.
 The time-distance relationship is represented by straight line (P-wave).
 If the source-geophone distance is > d, then
 Refracted waves reaches geophone earlier.
 V1 & V2 are seismic velocities of upper & lower stratum
 Depth of boundary b/w two strata is given by – D = d v2 - v1
2 v2 + v1
 Assuming thickness of upper strata as unvarying

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Contnd…
 Quick and reliable in establishing profiles of different strata.
 Deeper layers should have greater densities (higher velocities).
 Cannot be used to determine exact type of strata.
Material Wave velocity (m/s)
Sand & top soil 180-365
Sandy clay 365-580
Gravel 490-790
Glacial till 550-2135 Table 1: Wave Velocities in different material
Rock talus 400-760
Water in loose materials 1400-1830
Shale 790-3350
Sandstone 915-2740
Granite 3050-6100
Limestone 1830-6100
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Applicability of Seismic refraction method
 The seismic refraction method is commonly applied to shallow investigations
up to about 100m.
 However, with sufficient energy, surveys to several hundred meters are possible.

Limitations of Seismic Methods

 The Method cannot be used where a hard layer overlies a soft layer, because there
will be no measurable refraction from a deeper soft layer.
 Test data from such an area would tend to give a single-slope line on the travel-
time graph, indicating a deep layer of uniform material.
 The method cannot be used in an area covered by concrete or asphalt pavement,
since these materials represent a condition of hard surface over a soft stratum.
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 A frozen surface layer also may give results similar to the situation of a
hard layer over a soft layer.
 If the area contains some underground features, such as buried conduits,
irregularly dipping strata, discontinuities such as rock faults or earth cuts,
irregular water table, and the existence of thin layers varying materials, the
interpretation of the results becomes very difficult.
 The method require sophisticated and costly equipment.
 For proper interpretations of the seismic survey results, the services of an
expert are required.

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 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY TEST OF SOIL

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 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY TEST OF SOIL
 Electric resistance differs for different soil
 The flow of current through a soil is mainly due to electrolytic action
 The mineral particles of soil are poor conductors of current
 The resistivity of soil, therefore, decreases as both water content and
concentration of salts increase.
 Dense clean sand above the water table would exhibit a high resistivity
 Saturated clay of high void ratio would exhibit a low resistivity due to the
relative abundance of pore water and the free ions in that water.
2AE
 Resistivity is determined by, R
I

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Cntnd…
R in ohm-cm
E in volts
A in centimeters
I in amperes

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 SOUNDING ROD METHOD
 Used when variation of resistivity with depth is required.
 Provides rough estimate of type and depth of strata
 A series of reading are taken for an increased spacing of electrodes.
 Center of four electrodes is maintained at the same point.
 Apparent resistivity is the weighted average of true resistivity up to a depth
‘A’ cm.
 With increase in spacing, if resistivity increases, shows the influence of
underlying stratum with high resistivity.
 With increase in spacing, if resistivity decreases, shows the influence of
underlying stratum with low resistivity.
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 SOUNDING ROD METHOD
 Apparent resistivity is plotted against electrode spacing on log-log graph
 C1 type of curve is obtained if resistivity of layer-1 is lesser than laye-2
 C2 type of curve is obtained if resistivity of layer-1 is higher than laye-2

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 Location, spacing and depth of borings
It depends on:
i) Type of structure
ii) Size of the structure
iii) Weight coming from the

General guidelines for location and depth of bore holes

Boreholes are generally located at
• The building corners
• The centre of the site

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General guidelines for location and depth of bore holes
Boreholes are generally located at
• The building corners
• The centre of the site
• Where heavily loaded columns or machinery pads are
proposed.
• At least one boring should be taken to a deeper stratum,
probably up to the bedrock if practicable.
• Other borings may be taken at least to significant stress
level.
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Spacing of Bore Holes – Codal Recommendations
• For a small building one bore hole or test pit at the centre can give
necessary data.
• For a building covering not more than 4000 sq.m, one bore hole or
test pit at each corner and one at center is adequate.
• For a large project, the number will depend on its geological
features and variation of strata.
• Generally a grid of 50 m spacing should be used with a
combination of bore holes and sounding tests.

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Guidelines for depth of investigation:

1. At least one boring should be taken to deeper stratum, probably up

to the bedrock if practicable.
2. Borings should penetrate at least 3 m into rock.
3. Other borings may be taken at least to significant stress level.
4. In compressible soils such as clays, the borings should penetrate at
least between 1 and 3 times the width of the proposed foundation or
until the stress increment due to the heaviest foundation load is less
than 10%, whichever is greater.

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5. In very stiff clays, borings should penetrate 5-7 m to prove that
the thickness of the stratum is adequate.
6. Borings must penetrate below any fills or very soft deposits below
the proposed structure.
7. The minimum depth of boreholes should be 6 m unless bedrock or
very dense material is encountered.

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 Soil Exploration Report
• Scope of investigation
• General description of the proposed structure for which the exploration has
been conducted
• Geological conditions of the site
• Drainage facilities at the site
• Details of boring
• Description of subsoil conditions as determined from the soil and rock
samples collected.
• Ground water table as observed from the boreholes
• Details of foundation recommendations and alternatives
• Any anticipated construction problems
• Limitations
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The following graphic presentations also need to be attached to
the soil exploration report:
1. Site location map
2. Location of borings with respect to the proposed structure
3. Boring logs
4. Laboratory test results
5. Other special presentations

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 DEWATERING
 Dewatering means “the separation of water from the soil,” or perhaps “taking
the water out of the particular construction problem completely.”
 The main purpose of construction dewatering is to control the surface and
subsurface hydrologic environment

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 Purpose of dewatering
During construction stage
 Provide a dry excavation and permit construction to proceed efficiently
 Reduce lateral loads on sheeting and bracing in excavations
 Stabilize “quick” bottom conditions and prevent heaving and piping
 Improve supporting characteristics of foundation materials
 Increase stability of excavation slopes and side-hill fills
 Cut off capillary rise and prevent piping and frost heaving in pavements
 Reduce air pressure in tunneling operations

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 Purpose of dewatering
Post construction stage
 Reduce or eliminate uplift pressures on bottom slabs and permit economics
from the reduction of slab thicknesses from basements, buried structures,
canal linings, spillways, dry docks, etc.,
 Dry condition for basements.
 Reduce lateral pressures on retaining structures.
 Control embankment seepage in all dams.
 Control seepage and pore pressures beneath pavements, side-hill fills, and cut
slopes.

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 DEWATERING BY DITCH AND SUMP

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Water being dewatered Water being dewatered from
from a ditch an open sump
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Advantages of Open Sump and Ditches
 Widely used method
 Most economical method for installation and maintenance
 Can be applied for most soil and rock conditions
 Most appropriate method in situation where boulders or massive obstructions
are met with in the ground

Disadvantages of Open Sump and Ditches

 Ground water flows towards the excavation with high head or a steep slope
and hence there is a risk of collapse of sides.
 In open or timbered excavations there is risk of instability of the base due to
upward seepage towards pumping sump
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 WELL-POINT SYSTEM

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 WELL-POINT SYSTEM
• A well point system consists of a number of well points spaced along a
trench or around an excavation site.
• These well points in turn are all connected to a common header that are
attached to one or more well point pumps.
• Well point assemblies-are made up of a well point, screen, riser pipe, and
flexible hose swinger and joint with tuning.
• These are generally installed by jetting.
• They provide for entry of water into the system by creation of a partial
vacuum.

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Well-point system
• A well point system consists of a number of well points spaced along a trench
or around an excavation site.
• These well points in turn are all connected to a common header that are
attached to one or more well point pumps.
• Well point assemblies-are made up of a well point, screen, riser pipe, and
flexible hose swinger and joint with tuning.
• These are generally installed by jetting.
• They provide for entry of water into the system by creation of a partial
vacuum.

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 Single-stage well-point system

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Spacing of well point system
• Depends on the permeability of the soil.
• Availability of time to effect the drawdown

Design considerations of well-point system of dewatering

• The physical layout
• Adjacent areas
• Soil conditions
• Permeability of the soil
• The amount of water to be pumped
• Depth to imperviousness
• Stratification
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Vacuum dewatering or Ejector/Eductor dewatering systems
• Ejector/Eductor dewatering systems are employed to control pore
pressures and to lower groundwater levels to provide stable
working conditions in excavations.
• They are particularly suited to operating in fine soil conditions

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